Neil Hodgson rules out Marc Marquez title defence after huge Le Mans Sprint race crash - ‘He looks done’

The 2025 MotoGP world champion cruised to the title last year, but an October crash in Indonesia ruled him out of the rest of the season.

That required shoulder surgery, and while the 33-year-old Spaniard has been fit enough to race from the beginning weekend of the current campaign, he is yet to win a Grand Prix.

Compared to last year’s form, he is well off his best pace, and while he struggled for much of the weekend until qualifying, he managed to qualify in P2, behind his Ducati Lenovo team-mate, Francesco Bagnaia.

Bagnaia took second place behind Aprilia’s Jorge Martin, who now looks set to contest this year’s world championship with his team-mate Marco Bezzecchi.

Marquez, though, crashed out with a wild high-side after dropping out of the podium places.

In recent weeks, there has been some discussion as to whether Marquez will stick with the sport if he continues to underwhelm.

Hodgson predicted in his column that he may walk away at the end of the season, and he said after the Sprint that the time may soon come.

"Right now, enough is enough," he began.

"I don't think we'll see him tomorrow. Enough is enough. Humongous high-side. It all starts when he loses the front. Does he touch a white line in the braking zone? Loses the front, grips, slips. You can see the speed.

"Horrible to see."

The former rider concluded: "Marc looks done for the championship."

In the paddock, Hodgson’s colleague Sylvain Guintoli thinks that a long career of riding on the edge may now be catching up with Marquez.

He explained: "Just another big one. It's not high speed. It's just the way it lands, the way it crashes. He smashes his leg on the right side and then bounces up

"I mean, there's only so much you can take. You look at that crash and think that is going to hurt. That's another violent one, high side, a lot of energy in the crash.

"It’s worrying. It all adds up. When you get the bill, and it has that many additions to it, it’s costly.

"Because of the way he rides, on the limit, when it does go, it’s big."

Alongside him, Michael Laverty was less willing to suggest the end is near for Marquez, but agreed he is finding life tough on the track at the moment.

He said: "Marc's always surprised us. For now, it just feels like the year at Repsol when he decided to call it a day and get things right in terms of rehab and his arm.

"It could be that he's lacking a bit of strength to fight it when it locks. At the moment, he's a shadow of his former self."

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